


i just can't stay the same, so i'll stick around for you

by taye_z



Series: ghost-innit [6]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Crying, Gen, Ghost TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Men Crying, OLDER SISTER FIGURE NIKI LETS GOOOO, Rain, Self-Doubt, Self-Worth Issues, because tommyinnit is a MAN, why is everything in this series hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taye_z/pseuds/taye_z
Summary: GhostInnit finally talks to Niki about some of the pressing thoughts on his mind. At least it was warm and out of the rain, even if Niki's face looked stricken.title: city by DBMK (not original at all but i kinda vibe with songs for titles)
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), that would mean a lot to me if i wasnt maximum dead inside - desbug
Series: ghost-innit [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042287
Comments: 26
Kudos: 566
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	i just can't stay the same, so i'll stick around for you

It was a rainy day in New L’manburg.

Thick drops of water pooled in small holes, dripping off the side of wooden buildings. The sky was dark grey, a small, faint light representing the sun. People with enchanted tridents flew and spun through the air. Thunder rumbled in the clouds, a very distant flash of lighting following moments after.

Tommy did not like the rain.

Wilbur had told him how the rain would make him disintegrate. Tommy had frowned a little, because disintegrating didn’t sound all that much fun. 

And, well, he was  _ kinda  _ right.

Tommy had been outside early in the morning, collecting yellow. It was really cloudy, but he assumed it was fine.

It wasn’t until he saw small streams of water running down red flower petals that he realized it was raining.

Little pinpricks tingled on his exposed arms. Tommy connected the feeling of rain to a sleeping limb waking up. It didn’t  _ hurt _ exactly, but it was very unpleasant, and he would rather get away from it.

He pushed himself to his feet, running to the closest house. He didn’t know what would happen if he stayed out in the rain for much longer, and he didn’t want to find out.

The glass door opened with a small bell ringing, Tommy letting it close behind him. The warmth inside was a stark contrast to outside. Tommy hadn’t even noticed how cold it was. Maybe because he couldn't exactly  _ feel  _ the cold, but that was alright.

There were tables with chairs, organized in a semi-neat fashion. Fall decorations were scattered around, a smell of pumpkin spice in the air. It had a very warm, homey feel.

A woman who must have heard the bell popped up from behind a counter. She was on the shorter side. Two strips of her bangs had been dyed a white-blonde, the majority of her dark hair tied up in a messy bun. Her face had a gentle smile, and she was wearing an apron. Her name was Niki, someone Tommy felt like he could confide in without fear of getting judged.

Her soft brown eyes lit up at the sight of Tommy. “Oh! Hello!”

Tommy shuffled a bit. “Hi. I’m not tracking in water, am I?”

Niki laughed. “Oh no, it’s fine. You can come in.”

Tommy nervously stepped into the bakery. Niki dusted her hands off, the small cloud of flour quickly disappearing. “Hold on just a second.”

Niki disappeared back into the kitchen. Tommy sat in one of the chairs cautiously, waiting for Niki to come back. He heard her talking to someone male, oh is that Ranboo?

The man himself walked out behind Niki. He took one look at the rain from outside the windows and groaned. “Do I  _ really _ have to go home? You know how much the rain sucks!”

Niki affectionately nudged the much taller hybrid. “Unless you want to clean up?”

Ranboo gave her an incredulous look. “I just cleaned the kitchen?”

Niki laughed again. “I’m kidding. You can stay if you want.”

Ranboo gave a glum look at the rain, now falling harder. “No, I should get home to my pets. Do you have an umbrella or anything?”

Niki gasped softly. “Oh, I do! Hold on, let me get it!”

Niki darted back into the kitchen. Tommy fidgeted in his chair, feeling like he was intruding. Ranboo turned away from the window, mismatched eyes catching sight of the ghost. A small smile popped onto his face. “Oh, hello, hi, Tommy!”

Tommy gave a small wave. Ranboo pulled out a chair, plopping down across from Tommy.

“You don’t like the rain?” Tommy asked after a few moments of silence.

Ranboo shook his head quickly. “Oh no, no. I hate it so much. It’s ‘cause I’m part enderman.”

Tommy tilted his head. “Can’t you just teleport from house to house?”

Ranboo laughed a little. “Not intentionally.”

Tommy’s gaze settled on the table. “Oh.”

The last time Ranboo and Tommy had talked about teleporting was when Tommy accidentally teleported himself. He had managed to forget about it, but now all the questions came back. How had he managed to teleport? How did Ranboo know how to find him? Could Tommy teleport again if he tried?

Niki came back out from the kitchen, holding a light purple and grey umbrella. She gave Tommy a cookie with a smile. “These are… were your favorite.”

Tommy frowned a little at the correction, but took a bite from the cookie anyways. It was really good, and his face must have shown so because Niki grinned.

“Do I get one?” Ranboo asked, eyes pleading.

Niki rolled her eyes, and that was answer enough. Ranboo pouted, taking the umbrella with mock anger, his tail flicking. “Thanks.”

Niki sighed. “Okay, you can go grab a cookie.”

Ranboo’s eyes lit up, and he all but sprinted behind the counter. The umbrella nearly knocked over a cute display. Niki sighed, turning to Tommy with a strained smile. “Hi again. Sorry about Ranboo.”

Ranboo emerged from behind the counter, a cookie stuffed in his mouth. He gave Niki and Tommy a wave and a muffled  _ "Bye!" _ before stepping out into the rain.

Tommy watched him leave before turning back to Niki. “Hi.”

Niki sighed, letting her hair down. “You’re free to stay here until the rain lets up.” She looked at the rain, now falling harder. “I don’t think it’s gonna be anytime soon, though.”

“If you don’t mind,” Tommy said quietly, coughing a little. His throat always seemed to be dry these days, making his voice soft and hoarse.

Niki gave him a concerned look. “Do you want some water?”

Tommy hesitated for a moment. When was the last time he drank water? “...Sure.”

Niki stood, reaching to untie her apron as she went back into the kitchen. Tommy drummed his fingers on the table anxiously as he waited for her to come back. Something was bugging him, nagging at the back of his mind, and he was trying to work up the courage to ask.

The woman came back with a glass filled two thirds with water. She sat back in the chair, sliding the glass over to Tommy. He pulled it forward, not making any move to drink it.

Niki seemed to know something was on his mind. She didn’t press, instead watching the rain fall outside. Tommy stared into the glass of water, trying to figure out how to word his question.

A boom of thunder shook the bakery, making Tommy jump. A few seconds later, a flash of electricity shot across the sky like a fracture on broken glass.

Niki laughed softly at Tommy’s expression. He smiled uncertainly. “Uh, the thunder surprised me.”

Niki shrugged, leaning back in her chair. “No, it’s okay. The thunder is a bit shocking.”

Tommy nudged the glass with his finger. “I-uh, w-why was Ranboo here?”

He cursed himself mentally for chickening out from asking his question. Niki didn’t seem to notice anything wrong, idly tracing a finger on the table. “He likes to come hang out and help bake. He’s kind of like my brother, in a sense.”

Tommy nodded, grasping the glass firmly. He kept his head down, seeing a watery version of his face reflected back at him. He noticed, startled, how his face seemed completely grey-scale. His eyes were a very, very faint blue, borderlining light grey. Weren't they supposed to be icy blue?

“Niki, I wanna ask you something,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Niki tilted her head, giving him that soft smile. He bit his bottom lip, holding the water with more force than necessary. Now or never, he guessed.

“I-Well, everyone- I... “ Tommy struggled to format the words. Niki quietly waited.

“Niki… do people like me more, now that I’m…” Tommy trailed off, unclenching a hand to wave at himself.

He didn’t think it was that bad of a question. Sure, he had a bit of trouble asking it, but that was just his own overthinking and worry.

Niki, however, appeared to disagree.

Her eyes were wide, a bit too wide, her face a bit pale and her hands a little shaky. “W-What makes you think that?”

Tommy shrugged, keeping his head down. Faint grey hair shielded his face, creating a sense of security. “I… I dunno. I-People smile more, and they always say hi. And-uh… one time, I overheard these guys talking.”

Tommy paused, debating on continuing. He frowned a little, tracing a finger along the rim of the glass. “They were just talking about how much less messes and holes there were, now that I’m… dead. They didn't say the last part, but I think they were talking about me.”

Tommy finally got the courage to look up, meeting Niki’s shocked eyes. “Niki? Was Alive-Me a bad person?”

Niki hesitated for a moment too long. Tommy ducked his head, shoulders slumping. She was quick to notice this, hurrying to comfort him. “No, no! Tommy, you weren’t a bad person at all!”

Tommy pushed the hair from his face, hand gripping the roots. “Well, okay, but did people hate me? Everyone seems to like me more now that I’ve died.”

Niki’s hands were shaking a bit harder now, and that made Tommy guilty. He nervously glanced behind him at the rain, but it was a downpour out there. If he had a problem being outside before, now there was a good chance he would fully melt. Although, that sounded a bit better than staying with someone who looked like they were about to cry.

Tommy hastily reached into his pocket, pulling out some yellow. It stained his faded fingers, but he pushed it across the table with a nervous smile. "Hey, um. Don't be sad."

Niki took the dye, holding it in trembling hands. She didn't look much happier, so Tommy kept talking. "It's, no, it's okay. We can just act like I didn't say that. It's better this way, a-and people don't even miss me-"

"Tommy." Niki's voice cut through him like a sword. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, her face open and conveying an emotion Tommy couldn't understand.

"Tommy, I miss you."

Something twisted in his gut. "I-"

Niki gently shushed him. "I miss how you always stole a bag of cookies from me. I miss how you would run outside, laughing with Tubbo." Her face turned slightly nostalgic. "I miss helping you bandage up after you picked another fight you would lose."

Niki sighed, watching the rain fall. "The SMP is so quiet now. I miss how much noise you made."

Tommy swallowed, a foreign feeling crawling up the back of his throat. "I-I didn't think anyone would miss me," he whispered.

Niki gave him a slightly startled look. "What do you mean by that?"

Tommy shrugged, trying not to meet Niki's eyes. "I-I dunno. Everyone was so quick to let me get exiled. And I remember Fundy and… Quackity, I'm pretty sure, like they were shouting and protesting, but-" Tommy cut himself off, exhaling through his nose. "They didn't actually  _ try, _ you know? And before that, before I… did whatever to get me exiled, I-I could tell I wasn't exactly wanted."

Tommy took a drink from the water on instinct. The cool water slid down his throat, and he downed the entire glass. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was.

When he was done, Tommy finally met Niki's eyes. The woman's eyebrows were scrunched up slightly, the corners of her mouth tugging downwards. "I'm really sorry you feel that way. But I miss you, and I know Tubbo misses you, and probably Ranboo. He defended you in court, right?"

Tommy's tongue was tied between  _ "He did?" _ and  _ "I went to court?"  _ He ended up shrugging. 

Niki continued on. "I sometimes see Quackity say something in Spanish, and he looks sad when nobody responds. Sapnap doesn't try to talk to you because he doesn't want you to remember anything bad. He told me that himself."

Niki's eyes were wide, full of conviction. "People miss you. Sam is trying to find a way to bring you back. Trust me, Tommy."

Tommy stared, dumbstruck. The odd feeling swirled in his chest. Something built up behind his eyes and burned the back of his nose slightly. His vision went blurry, and as he blinked small drops of water traced his cheeks. He was crying.

Tommy quickly rubbed at his eyes almost subconsciously. Something told him crying was a weakness. He should be strong, not sad.

Niki grabbed one of his hands with a compassionate smile. Tommy froze, stiffening slightly. 

Niki pulled him from the chair, leading him to the kitchen as he rubbed stray tears from his face. "Come on, let's go make bread."

An hour or two later, the rain was still falling, although it had slowed to a drizzle. Tommy had flour all over his clothes, and he was breathless from laughter, but he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a lot better. Niki was cool that way.

**Author's Note:**

> the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
> 
> and he said to the man running the stand ᵍʳᵃᵖᵉˢˀ
> 
> the man said "no we just sell lemonade. but it's cold and it's fresh and it's all home-made. can I get you  
> glass?"
> 
> the duck said g̵͉̈́̓r̴̡̈́́ͅå̷̦̻̾ṕ̷͙̃e̶̟̬̎s̴͓͚̐?̵̡̥̊
> 
> follow my [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/tayez_x/) sorry to self promote but numbers (if you did it would make me feel very poggers but only if you want to)


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